Also
written 甎仏 or 磚仏. Japanese buddhist images in relief on unglazed clay tiles
sen せん which are square, rectangular, or flame-shaped. Made by pressing
clay into moulds, drying and then firing. Surfaces were occasionally decorated
with gold leaf (kinpaku 金箔 ; see *haku
箔). Individual images were enshrined in an altar and used for private worship,
but more commonly senbutsu were made in large numbers and used to
decorate the interior walls of temples (see *sentaibutsu
千体仏). Although in the strict sense of the term, senbutsu should be
the images of buddhist deities on clay tiles, the term generally includes
other motifs related to Buddhism, such as the phoenix *houou
鳳凰. Popular in China from 6c, senbutsu were introduced to Japan
in the latter half of 7c. Numerous examples of the Buddha triad *sanzonbutsu
三尊仏 about 20cm X 20cm large, were excavated from the back-hill of Kawaharadera
川原寺, Nara (built in the 660's). Other examples have also been found in the
ruins of temples built in 7c-8c, such as Tachibanadera 橘寺 and Yamadadera
山田寺, both in Nara. Few examples dating after 9c have been discovered. Contemporaneous
characteristics in style between China and Japan can be seen in senbutsu
and repousse Buddhas *oshidashibutsu
押出仏 which are technically related to each other. Specifically, the late
7c examples mentioned above have the distinctively mature, sensuous style
of the early Tang dynasty, while wooden or bronze statues of the same
period retain a stylistic influence from the earlier Chinese period. This
difference is due to the fact that once a mould was imported from China,
numerous copies could be produced from it. When a mould was broken, a new
one was made using a produced work. Because a new mould shrank about 20%
when fired, new products became smaller than the original. This process
of making smaller clay figures using renewed moulds is called *fumigaeshi
踏返 (changing step). Sometimes metal repousse buddhist images were used
to make a new mould for senbutsu, and senbutsu were used to
make repousse Buddhas.

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